Shakira sometimes goes "a month or more" without seeing her sons

The 42-year-old singer has Milan, six, and Sasha, four, with her husband Gerard Piqué, and has said her tough work schedule and life on the road means she sometimes has to spend weeks at a time away from her brood.

20 September 2019

She said: "Sometimes it's very hard when you can not see your sons for a month or even more. It is so hard. But we call each other via FaceTime, so we are in constant communication, that helps."

But Shakira is thankful she has her 32-year-old soccer player spouse to help her out with parenting duties, as she says they both "support each other" well.

The 'Hips Don't Lie' hitmaker added to Viva magazine: "We don't have a written deal to share the tasks or anything like that, but we both are very involved in parenting and try to sort it out the best we can. We support each other and we also find a huge help in our families. We don't know a different way to do it!"

Meanwhile, the blonde beauty previously described herself and Gerard as the perfect parenting team.

She said: "He's got his feet on the ground and is very practical about problem-solving. When I get stressed about how to organise things or juggle it all, he helps put it all in perspective. And he is my biggest support. We're both very hands-on parents, so it never feels like one is carrying the entire load on their own. He probably lets them have a little more chocolate than I'd like, though."

The 'Waka Waka' singer said every new stage of her kids' development has presented her and Gerard with new challenges, but she admitted it has been amazing seeing them grow up.

She added: "The older they get, the more interesting the challenges - I've only gotten to the toddler stage so far, but each one keeps me on my toes and forces me to educate myself further as I'm working to educate them along with their teachers ... Everything is centred around them now. It's a new dimension of love, at least for me, that's indescribable. It's also helped me be more disciplined overall about sticking to a schedule now, because you're forced to prioritise. Before I was my own boss, but I have two tiny bosses to answer to now."